My son has struggled and repeated one year since he started school. I was one of those parents, and some teachers as well, that kept saying “try harder, don’t be so lazy.” His learning support teacher would not give up and part of me would not believe (or face) that maybe he was dyslexic. He just didn’t fit the symptoms. After some research, I came across the Irlen Diagnostic web site. He fitted their checklist to a T. Long story short; some believe and some say it is BS; he was tested and it turned out that with coloured lenses and overlays he was able to read without difficulty; he has improved dramatically in school. I will never forget the joy on his face when he first clearly read out a difficult passage without hesitation. So don’t write your kids off; this is more common than you think.

I have some exciting news in regard to Irlen Syndrome. For those of you who don’t know about Irlen, stay tuned , as I will post more information about what it is etc later. But for now, the newsflash is Stuart Ritchie, Psychology Department, The University of Edinburgh, has notified us that a chapter on dyslexia in an edited volume by the University of Edinburgh’s Sergio Della Sala entitled “Neuroscience in Education,” to be published in 2011 by Oxford University Press, will talk about Coloured Lenses and the Irlen Treatment.